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Cards stick with late-season lineup for Game 1

Cards stick with late-season lineup for Game 1

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091612 Jon Jay

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ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals manager Mike Matheny penned 122 different batting orders during the regular season, though it's the one he settled on with regularity during the final few weeks that he'll continue to utilize during the postseason.

The Cards' batting order for Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Nationals on Sunday was identical to the one the club used in its NL Wild Card game against the Braves on Friday. It's a lineup that has Jon Jay batting leadoff, Allen Craig cemented as the team's cleanup hitter, and Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma covering the middle infield and batting in the pair of spots in front of the pitcher.

The lineup is one Matheny first used on Sept. 10, though he ended up employing it in seven of the team's final 22 regular-season games. There is no other batting order that the Cardinals utilized more than five times all season.

"Well, I think that's been something we've been trying to accomplish since the beginning of the season, but you go through periods where it's just not working and you've got to adjust, and mostly around the second-base position," Matheny said. "You toy around with a couple other things, until Jon Jay established himself in that leadoff spot, and we lose our shortstop, which creates more options and opportunities for other people."